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We've all heard bits and pieces about BitTorrent, here and there, true and untrueit's used for trading illegal files; it's illegal; it's too obscure for anyone but teenagers; it's the easiest way to download large files. But we have heard about it, because although BitTorrent itself is legal, it's one of the fastest ways to trade all sorts of files, and therefore, it's often mentioned when illegal file-sharing comes up. Actually, BitTorrent is just one torrent clientthe first and most famous one to use the BitTorrent protocol.

Developed by Bram Cohen as a solution to large-file download bottlenecksnot to mention the problem of "leeches," people who download files but then don't share them as uploadsBitTorrent is a very effective tool for distributing big files online. And with good reason: BitTorrent works amazingly well to spread out the burden of creating thousands of copies of a file across the clients, or peers, that are downloading the file. That means there's no large central server to keep running, or massive bandwidth bills to pay for. It also means we can download, say, a 600MB Linux distro in a few short minutes.

At least, we can if there are enough seeds and peers sharing the file. This collection, known as a swarm, consists of all the clients trying to download the file (the peers, who will also upload pieces as they become available) and clients that have complete copies of the file available for upload (the seeds). The whole process is started, most of the time, with a torrent, a sort of pointer file that contains all the info you need to start downloading the file you want.

First, you'll need to search for torrents to feed to your client, on sites like BitTorrent.com (careful there; despite an agreement with the MPAA, there were still plenty of shady-looking search results as we went to print). Clicking on the torrent launches your BitTorrent client (more on these below), and begins your download. When the download is done, etiquette demands that you leave the file up to seed others. If you don't offer files for upload, you'll be branded a leech (though some folks modify clients to behave in this manner intentionally).

Once again, using BitTorrent in and of itself is not in the least bit illegal. Of course, neither is using a VCR to tape a television show. However, a huge number of people use BitTorrent to share materials that are copyrighted. The array is vast, from MP3s to first-run movies, and even entire seasons of TV shows zipped up into a single large file. And once again (say it with us), downloading copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder is illegal. You could get sued. For a lot. The odds may be against it... but it could happen.

Chances are that a torrent pointing to, say, a copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is not there with Disney's permission. It might not even be Snow Whiteor even a video. It could be some kind of nasty Trojan horse. You didn't think there was some code of honor among illegal-file traders, did you? Some say these files are actually seeded by entities such as the MPAA looking to curb illegal downloads, or catch the downloaders. We don't know about that, only that such viral payloads do crop up from time to time.

Fortunately, there's perfectly legal content that you can download after you find its corresponding torrent link on a Web site, or look it up on a torrent search engine, such as the one BitTorrent.com itself hosts.

The MPAA and other copyright holders are fighting a steeply uphill battle against a very popular system. Even finding a single seed means you can download a file (although with a single seed, it may take days of running in the background on your system, instead of minutes). That's hard to fight when there are millions of folks participating around the globe.

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BitTorrent isn't always the most user-friendly system. Finding live torrents can be difficult. We suspect many folks would gladly pay a reasonable fee for a speedy download of a clean file, if it existed. Especially if it simply meant clicking on a link at, say, HBO's Web site, or inside iTunes. Time will tell: Even if the copyrighted stuff moves off BitTorrent, BitTorrent will still be an amazing way to download large demos and legal files. And BitTorrent has recently received millions in funding to develop more legal uses of the system. Rumor has it this could even include distribution deals with movie studios.

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